Warning: Graphic content
On Sunday night’s episode of “The Walking Dead,” the gang finally ventured inside Alexandria — and weꦉre finallyﷺ able to take hot showers and brush their teeth after weeks in the woods.
And despite the thick exterior wall, the fully-stocked houses and the new company, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the rest of his crew refused to let their guards down — and who can blame them? For every well-intentioned survivor group they’ve encountered, they’ve found another that’s stolen theꦗir guns, destroyed t༺heir homes and, in one instance, turned them into victims of cannibalism.
So even though Deanna Monroe (Tovah Feldshuh) and the rest of the Alexandria crew seem to be good people so far, there’s no tellin🍰g what could happen down the road. Here’s a look back at some of the best — and the worst — survivor groups Rick a꧒nd his gang have encountered thus far.
The Atlanta group
As is true with most things, the original crew will forever be the best. What were the chances of Rick stumbling across a band of survivors who happened to be shacked up with his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and son Carl (Chandler Riggs)? Sure, he and Shane (Jon Bernthal) never saw eye to eye, but fans of the show will forever remember T-Dog (IronE Singleton), Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn), Sophia (Madison Lintz), Andrea (Laurie Holden) and Amy (Emma Bell). And don’t forg🍌et about the Morales family, who parted ways with the rest of the group and haven’t been seen since. They could still be out there!
The Greene family farmhouse
Hershel Greene (Scott Wilson) was the father figure that all the survivors were missing (except, 🐼of course, Carl, who did in fact have his father). Sure, Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince) accidentally shot Carl, and it turned out that Hershel was hoarding walkers in the barn, but otherwise the group enjoyed a season spent indoors with proper plumbing and cooking equipment — and Glenn (Steven Yeun) even met his soulmate, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who is now the only surviving member of the Greene family.
Morgan Jones
There’s something about those walky-talkies that 🌸just pulls fans right in. After saving Rick’s life and shar🅠ing the story of how his wife had turned into a walker, but he couldn’t bring himself to put her down, Morgan (Lennie James) parted ways with Rick — but used walky-talkies to hopefully reconnect some day. Though his son, Duane (Adrian Kali Turner), has since died, Morgan continues to reenter the picture every now and then. Currently, fans are anticipating his reunion with Rick, which has been teased throughout the season.
Abraham’s group
Glenn and ♍Tara (Alanna Masterson) encountered Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Rosita (Christian Serratos) after escaping from the Governor’s (David Morrissey) attack on the prison, and decided to band together out of necessity. Eugene had convinced the group that he was a doctor who knew the secret for the cure to the zombie apocalypse, which turned out not to be true. Otherwise, the trio — especially Abraham — have proved to be valuable numbers of the gang.
The Centers for Disease Control
For a few episodes, the gang got a reprieve from the zombie-filled world and spent time underground with Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) of the Centers for Di🍰sease Control. While otherwise unremarkable, their encounter did provide one ver⛦y important fact: The survivors are already infected with the zombie virus, meaning they’ll turn as soon as they die — even if it’s a natural death.
The nursing home survivors
Remember the Vatos gang from the first season? Guillermo (Neil Brown Jr.) takes Glenn hostage, demanding the guns that belong to Rick and the other survivors as ransom. They seem like no-good thugs at first — until we learn that they were trying to arm themselves to protect the elderly citizens of the nursing home in which they’ve taken shelter. Rick eventually gives the group half of his guns and ammo before bidding them farewell. A deleted scene shows Rick’s group going back to the nursing home in Season 2 for shelter, only to find the Vatos gang members have all been killed, execution style. Who could have done that?
Tyreese’s group
Tyreese (Chad Coleman) and his sister Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) showed up at the prison one day and eventually became full-fledged cast members — but not before turning their back on the prison and shacking up with the Governor at Woodbury. Tyreese provided information about the layout of the prison to the Governor — which eventually had very dire consequences. When the si꧙blings realized what the Governor had done, they returned to the prison.
The Chamblers family
While Tara has become a solid member of the surviving gang, it’s hard not to forget Tara’s older sister Lilly (Audrey Marie Anderson) and how stupid she really was. Not only did she strike up a relationship with the maniacꦜal Governor, but she also took her eyes off of her daughter in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. She did kill the Governor, though, so kudos for that.
The Prison Inmates
The gang looks back on the prison with such fond memories that sometimes it’s easy to forget that there weܫre already people living in it when they first moved in. Prison inmates Andrew (Markice Moore) and Tomas (Nick Gomez) aren’t welcoming to Rick and his crew, and die because of it. Oscar (Vincent Ward) and Axel (Lew Temple) become members of the group for several episodes, before dying in the Woodbury clash.
Grady Memorial Hospital
The hospital was responsible for a chain of ev🤡ents that led to two tragic deaths: Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) and Tyreese. Not only did they kidnap Beth off the street, but she was nearly molested by one of the cops inside. They use their high ranks as cops and doctors to justify their barbaric behavior, and all the gang gets in return is another mouth to feed in the form of Noah (Tyler James Williams). When trying to return Noah to his family, Tyreese suffers a bite from a walker. Though they try to amputate his arm to save him (as they did for Hershel) it’s too late and Tyreese succumbs to his wounds.
Randall’s group
Randall (Michael Zegen) and his fellow bandits Sean (Keedar Whittle), Tony (Aaron Munoz) and Dave (Michael Raymond-James) encounter Hershel, Glenn and Rick at a local bar, but when they won’t reveal the location of the Greene farm, tensions escalate. Rick kills Tony and Dave in self-defense, and Sean and Will𒅌ie die in the aftermath. Randall reveals that he went to school with Maggie and knows where the farm is — so they kidnap him, and Shane later kills him.
The Claimers
The leader of this group, Joe (Jeff Kober), will forever be remembered as the guy who got his neck bitten by Rick in one of the show’s most gruesome scenes. They rape, murder 🥃and pillage anything and anyone in their way — until Rick, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) slaughter them all.
Woodbury
Woodbury’s unfortunate mix of ꦬtruly evil people (the Governor and Merle (Michael Rooker)) and those who blindly follow orders (everyone els🍸e) didn’t make them the warmest welcomers. They aided in the deaths of several members of Rick’s crew, and eventually came begging at the prison gate after the Governor lost control of Woodbury.
Terminus
They were cannibals! Enough said. RIP Bob (La�🃏�wrence Gilliard Jr.).